Nanny Leaves Baby.

Nanny Leaves Baby.

The news last week of the Nanny leaving baby alone is distressing in the extreme to all and questions are obviously being asked around how did this occur? Yesterday we heard in the Herald that the carer says she was stressed and made some bad decisions. Unfortunately this is what individuals sometimes do when under pressure but one incident does not make the rest of the approximately 18,000 children currently cared for by educators at risk. In the same manner as the recent incident last month of the child who was left behind and alone in the childcare centre when they went on an outing, does not mean all childcare centres leave children behind.

Home-based childcare continues to be the fastest growing service type in the early childhood sector over the past ten years with more parents choosing to place their children in small group settings with one-to-one teaching opportunities. Particularly for under 3’s where attachment and primary care-giving is essential for healthy brain development.

Educators care for children in either their home or the home of the child under the umbrella of a home-based agency. Agencies are either chartered or licensed with the Ministry of Education and are regulated under the Home-based Care Order 1998 or Early Childhood Regulations 2008. By 2014 all home-based agencies must be licensed. In home educators who work out of their own home are self employed contractors whilst a nanny working in the child’s home is an employee.

The New Zealand Home-based Early Childhood Education Association works with its members to provide advice and training regarding best practice in home-based early childhood education. As an organisation we have identified that the role of the childcare agency is essentially to support educators/nanny’s with childcare arrangements, monitor home environments for safety, provide resources and ongoing training to support educators/nanny’s and report on the ongoing educational outcomes for children to parents.

It is vital that agencies follow robust processes for recruitment, selection and training of educators and nannies to ensure children are being cared for safely. There must also be rigorous training in the policies and procedures educators must follow whilst caring for children. Some questions parents can ask of agencies are:

• What feedback, information and reporting will you receive on your child’s well being and progress? How will you know what has happened during your child’s day and how will you be involved in planning future learning.

• Is it possible to talk to someone about your child at any time if you have concerns or worries?

• What does the agency provide for in terms of backup care arrangements if the children/staff are sick, the educator/nanny has an emergency or if a child has an accident?

• What training or qualifications does the educator/nanny have and what training has she undertaken in the service? Do they access ongoing professional development and training?

• How often is the educator/nanny observed caring for children? What systems does the agency have for unannounced visits to monitor the home?
• How does the agency support the educator/nanny?

• What procedures or systems does the agency follow to identify stress or ill health of educators/nanny’s and what support systems do they put in place? How do they know they work?

The New Zealand Home-based Early Childhood Education Association members are individuals working in the home-based sector and home-based childcare agencies. Not all agencies are members of the Association.

ENDS

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